In Sheeps Clothing
by Sakuyuki Miharu
Summary: "You know, he had so little XXXX!" the Cheshire Cat said putting up his thumb and pointer finger in the air to demonstrate how much 'little' he meant "But I took it from him regardless… but he gave it to me willingly so I didn't actually steal it, right, Alice?" [Alice Mare au (originally posted on ao3)]
1. The Little Alice

Author Note: I have posted this before in Archive of Our Own on my account there. Thought I'd post this here, too since I've neglected this account for so long. This is based on the Alice Mare novel and edited to add Owari no Seraph (or just Yuu) in it. Hints of MikaYuu.

* * *

 ** **Chapter 1- The Little Alice****

 _"…_ _ _You have so little XXXX. But I'm taking it anyways!"__

 _"_ _ _Yeah, take it! No one would ever give me XXXX anyways so just take it all!"__

A car had just stopped after driving through the forest. The man with long black hair and black eyes came out of the driver's seat and opened the door at the back of the car. A young boy with black hair and green eyes wearing a black shirt, white hooded jacket designed with three red slash marks above each sleeve and a pair of pants got out and was led to an old building situated in the middle of a forest. The walls surrounding the building were brown and it had a black roof. It looked pretty old but upon going inside, it looked much better with the wide hallways, white walls and brightly-colored floors.

When they got in, another man greeted them "Hey! You're back. Is this the new kid?"

"Yes." the black-haired man answered and then looked at the boy "This is Mr. Cliff. He's a friend of mine and I asked him to take care of the place while I was gone. So, where are the other kids?"

"I told them to stay in their rooms for now but honestly if I wasn't here, they'd already have come running. They were pretty excited hearing there'd be someone new." Mr. Cliff explained "Well, I'd better go. I had a call from work earlier."

"Alright. Thank you very much for your help." The man said as Mr. Cliff said his goodbyes and left

"Come with me." The man who calls himself 'Teacher' led the young boy to his room. The room was a bit of a mess, with stacks of books and papers on the desk. "Alright, Yuu. This place is where you'll be living in from now on. There are certain rules you must follow so please listen."

The boy called 'Yuu' nodded and the teacher started to tell him these rules:

"There's a schedule we follow for things like eating, studying, and sleeping but the rest is free time. You can go outside but only as far as the garden and there's a library upstairs. You can take books from there to your room but you can't take anything from the store room or other people's rooms. You still follow me?" Yuu just nods

"Alright, other than those: don't break anything and don't open any locked doors. If you broke anything, make sure to tell me. And of course, please don't hit anyone. If you need anything or have any problems, you can tell me. Is that clear?"

"Okay."

"Good!" Teacher smiled "But if you ever forget, I made a note here. Place it on your room, alright?"

Yuu was handed a note containing the rules dictated to him earlier. He folded it up and placed it on his pocket. The teacher took something out and handed it over to him as well: an emerald green notebook. "It's your personal notebook. I gave one to all the kids here. Write whatever you want on it, be it your feelings or if you wanted to draw. I'll check on it from time to time."

Leaving the room, the teacher gestured for Yuu to follow him. Walking through the hallways, he was given a little tour of the area before getting to where the rooms would be. Outside the doors, there were four children- three girls and one boy- around Yuu's age talking to each other. Noticing their presence, the children suddenly ran up to them.

"You're here! We didn't notice you come back and is this the new kid?" the silver-haired boy asked as he looked at Yuu

"Hi! What's your name?" the girl with white-hair with purple-reddish highlights asked excitedly, her words coming out too fast showing how cheerful and hyper she was "Wait, wait! Can you speak English? He came from far away, right teacher?"

Teacher let out a small chuckle and answered "Yes, he could. But it's still not his native language so don't use words that are too complicated, alright?"

"We'll be eating dinner soon so please wait here a while. You can all try to get to know each other while you wait." Then he left, leaving Yuu with the other four children who are still observing him

"Hey! The name's Tommy. What's yours?" asked the silver-haired boy who wore a black knit hat with a silver chain on it. He had olive eyes and wore dark-bluish clothes with silver lines.

Before Yuu could answer, the girl with white hair earlier wearing a small black hat, clothes adorned with ribbons and checkered skirt said "That's not your name! His name is Joshua!"

"Letty!" the silver-haired boy called 'Joshua' exclaimed "Why'd you tell him? You should have waited a while longer!"

"Oh, okay. I'm Yuuichirou."

"It's nice to meet you!" the white haired girl shook his hands "I'm Letty! I hope we can play since you now live here! Oh and you should meet Rick but he's sleeping right now so maybe later!"

"Yuu-ichi-rou? Your name's a mouthful!" Joshua said with a grin "Got a nickname?"

"Yuu…" Yuu said quietly

"You? What do you mean me?" asked the confused boy

"No, Yuu. Y-U-U." the dark haired boy exasperatedly explained

"Oh… oh! I get it… it's Yuu!" Joshua ruffled his hair "Sorry 'bout that!"

He shifted his gaze to the other two who hadn't spoken yet. One is a girl with long black hair and red eyes wearing a black one piece and on her head is a white headdress with wine-red ribbons. She didn't seem to want to talk to him at all and the girl beside her had brown hair tied with two circular hairclips on each side. Her outfit is almost all red from top to bottom: the red poncho and a puffy balloon skirt but the front of the skirt is covered by a frilly white apron.

"H-hi…" said the girl in red. She seemed to be very shy as she barely made any eye contact with him and it took a few seconds before she could continue "M-my name is… Chelsy. It's nice to meet you."

He extended his hand and the girl took it, making a very short handshake before she let go and stepped back. "Aww! Chelsy is very shy!" Letty explained

The girl in black still hadn't spoken. Noticing his gaze, Joshua spoke "This girl's name is Stella. She doesn't talk much or at all, actually so don't mind it. I don't think she has anything against anyone, if that's what you're concerned about."

The days passed by uneventfully. Yuu followed the rules laid out to him by Teacher. He's usually alone in his room to read manga unless one of the other kids dragged him out to play which is usually Joshua or Letty. Joshua likes pulling pranks on others and sometimes invites him if to catch frogs or bugs outside which he would only accept if he was bored. He rarely reads books in the library but when he does, it's about fantasy-related things like mythical creatures and he sometimes catches Stella sitting on a different table but they never talk. Letty drags him and the others to games as well and at night, he gets to see Rick whom shares a room with Letty but only ever appears at night saying "It's because Letty's asleep." which raises questions he never voices out. He rarely talks to Chelsy because of her shyness but there were times he caught her doing chores and sometimes helped her out.

"Know what? You're pretty quiet sometimes." Joshua said as they both walked back after frog-catching "Where were you from before you got here?"

Yuu was quiet for a moment, hesitating on whether he'd answer or not but chose to do so anyways "From an orphanage."

"Really?" Joshua stopped in his tracks and looked at the boy in wonder "If you were living in an orphanage already, why'd Teacher bring you here?"

"I… don't know." Yuu thought about it. Nothing much was said when Teacher asked him to come to the facility with him but the orphanage director said something about it being 'for the best'.

"So, was it fun there?"

Yuu looked away for a moment and remembered his days back at the orphanage and the friends he made and felt sad. Joshua must have noticed the change in his expression because he had suddenly asked if he was alright "It's okay. I just… remembered something. Anyways, the kids there were nice… they were too nice. I had a really good friend there- a best friend. You sort of remind me of him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's nice and smiles a lot. He's like everyone's big brother and is responsible but he makes trouble sometimes, too." Yuu said as he looked to the sky. The clear blue color reminds him of that person's eyes.

"You two must have been close." Joshua said as they continued walking

"Yeah…" Yuu muttered " _ _We used to be."__

"What?" Joshua looked back, unsure if he heard his companion correctly "Did you say something?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing!" Yuu shook his head changed the subject "So, what kinda prank are we gonna pull today?"

Joshua snickered and patted Yuu on the back "That's the spirit! Well, for starters…"

Months have already passed. Teacher went out on an errand and the other children were talking about how they heard there would be a new kid coming. "I'm not lying this time, okay? I swear I heard Teacher talking on the phone with Mr. Cliff about another kid!" Joshua told them defensively. Joshua likes telling tall tales most of the time so it was hard for them to know what's true and which is false.

"I… I was there with Joshua so I heard it, too." Chelsy adds

Later that afternoon, they heard the sound of a car stopping. They immediately got out of their rooms to check if their teacher did bring home another child. Getting close to Teacher's room, they had just seen it close, meaning that Teacher and the new kid were there.

"What are you guys gonna do?" Yuu asked as they tip-toed their way to the door

"We're gonna check on the new kid of course!" Joshua grinned

"Why don't we just wait 'til they're done talking?"

"Because we're curious and we wanna know who he is now!" Letty told him

Opening the door slightly, the kids took a peek inside. Due to their number, Yuu wasn't able to see much of what's inside except for a bit of teacher's back and he couldn't see much of the new kid except for his clothes which appears to be a white collared shirt, black pants with suspenders, and blue and white striped socks.

Listening in on them, Teacher appears to be telling the new kid the same things he told Yuu about the rules and even gave the boy a notebook of his own. Afterwards, it seems as though the two have noticed their presence as Teacher walked towards the door and flung it open to find the children. Joshua muttered a "Yikes" and tried to run but was caught.

"I told you to stay in your rooms until we were done talking, you know," Teacher sighed

"Telling us not to come see makes us wanna come see. Right?" Joshua asked as he looked at everyone else

"Yeah! I mean, of course we'll be curious. It's exciting hearing there's a new kid coming!" Letty responded with excitement.

Everyone was fussing over the new kid and blocking his view that, from where he was standing, Yuu still couldn't see the boy. When Teacher had told them that they'd be helping take care of the new addition to their group, Joshua gave a small complaint but quickly changed his attitude when he was told that it's their job as the new boy's - whom the teacher called 'Allen'- older brothers and sisters. Teacher left and said he'd call them when dinner was ready.

When Teacher left, Yuu made his way inside. He froze in place, eyes widened, as he saw what Allen looked like- frizzy blonde hair and blue eyes. The boy reminded Yuu of something or rather __someone__ he knew. The other kids sat on the floor in the middle of the room and surrounded Allen, observing him and pulling on his clothes as if they were examining him. Allen didn't complain and let them do as they please and soon, they started their introductions with Joshua introducing himself as 'Marcus' but like last time, someone broke the truth rather quickly to the new kid but this time, it was Chelsy who as usual was too shy to talk to the new kid herself.

Letty was hyper as usual and had no problem talking to Allen who might have been too overwhelmed by her actions that he seemed to have lost energy at the end of their short conversation. Allen looked over at Stella who hadn't spoken yet. Joshua told him that it was rather normal of her to be that way and when the blonde asked her name, to everyone's surprise, she spoke "… Stella."

Joshua of course, responded with "Did you just talk?" and stared at her confused. Yuu, who had been here for months and hadn't really heard the quiet girl speak much, was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard her voice. Then the new kid's gaze shifted onto Yuu.

Yuu hesitated for a moment before speaking "Hey, uh. I'm Yuuichirou."

"Yuu…ichi-" Allen tried to say Yuu's name with a bit of difficulty. Joshua snickered and Letty placed her arms around the blonde's shoulders as she points her hand at Yuu

"His name is too long so we just call him 'Yuu'!" she says cheerfully

"It's Yuu as in Y-U-U. Not 'you'." Joshua explains

"Nice to meet you, Yuu."

After introductions, Joshua offered to give the new kid a tour of the facility and later on, Teacher called them for dinner.

In the months that Allen was there, Yuu was able to talk to him or hang out with him. He and Allen usually accompany Joshua on his games. When Yuu goes to the library on occasion, he usually sees Allen reading books.

He stared at the blonde as the latter flipped a page. He couldn't help but be reminded of __that__ person from the orphanage.

 _"_ _ _You should really read more books! They're good for you, Yuu-chan." A young blonde boy with wavy hair said as he showed Yuu the cover of a novel__

 _"_ _ _But they're boring!"__

 _ _The boy sighed "Only because you haven't tried them yet. Come on, let's read together!"__

"Excuse me!" A voice snapped Yuu out of reminiscing. In front of him was Allen, staring at him with worry and confusion "Are you okay? Did you need something?"

"Huh? What?" was the only thing Yuu could say after being asked all of a sudden.

"You've been staring. Did you need this book?" Allen asked, holding up the thick novel he was reading earlier.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. It's just…" Yuu paused for a bit "You reminded me of someone."

"Oh, okay. You don't mind me sitting here, right?" Allen asked as he gestured to the chair next to Yuu. After the raven-haired boy shook his head, Allen sat down and continued reading. Moments passed by with them both reading the books they chose.

"What are you reading?" Yuu asked Allen who seem to have been too immersed on his reading that he was startled by Yuu's sudden question "I'm sorry, did I bother you? Didn't mean to."

Allen shook his head and held up his book "It's alright. I'm reading a novel. How about you?"

Yuu showed him the cover of the book he had in front of him and said "Stuff about vampires and other strange creatures. Say, I almost always see you here reading. Do you like books?"

"I guess I do. I don't remember much about myself but I think I used to, even back then."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you had amnesia."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize."Allen said, reassuring him that he didn't take offense to anything

"Um, Does it bother you? You know… not remembering anything."

"Yeah, it does sometimes. I ask myself what my life was like before or what my parents were like… those things." Allen placed a bookmark where he left off and closed the book "Sometimes I feel like I'm missing something."

"I see." then Yuu muttered "I wish I could forget things though."

Before Allen could ask, Teacher came inside the library and told them it was time for bed.

Allen got sick one day and Teacher visits him in his room to take care of him. Everyone was told not to bother the blonde not only cause he was sick but also to avoid anyone else getting the sickness. Yuu walked by in time to see Teacher get out of Allen's room and of course, curious as he was, he decided to take a peek inside. As soon as he opened the door, the boy on the bed immediately looked his way. "Sorry, Allen. Did I wake you?"

Allen shook his head "No. I was awake. Teacher checked on me earlier."

Yuu got inside but kept his distance from the sick boy "How are you?"

"I still feel kinda dizzy and weak." Allen answered as he lay on his side "But its fine."

"I see. Sorry for bothering you." Yuu then walked towards the door, with his hand hovering above the doorknob "You probably need your rest so I'm going."

"Okay. Thanks for visiting." Allen said but as Yuu opened the door, the blonde suddenly asked "Yuu…"

"What?" Yuu turned around to look at the other boy

"Do you know what XXXX is?"

Yuu's eyes widened as he heard those words. He didn't know what it was and hearing Allen, the words just ended up sounding like static "XXXX… I don't know. But I think I knew before, but I don't remember."

"I see, okay."

Leaving the room, Yuu closed the door and leaned on it. He tried saying those words again "XXXX" but like before, it sounded like static. He doesn't recognize the words he just said and it confused and frustrated him a little.

Yuu walked along the hallway of their rooms when he saw Allen, Chelsy and Rick talking to each other. He walked up to them and noticed that Chelsy looked kind of pale. "Allen, you're up! You okay now? And what's with Chelsy?"

Allen turned to look at him and said "Yeah. I'm okay now. Oh, have you been hearing voices? Chelsy said Joshua has and we heard a creaking noise earlier."

"Seriously though, Joshua probably made that up." Rick said "But if you do want to know more, you can just ask Joshua. He's in his room."

Rick and Chelsy said their 'Goodnights' and went back to their rooms leaving just Allen and Yuu on the hallway. Curious about the earlier conversation, Yuu decided to go with Allen in asking Joshua and both went to the other boy's room. Before Allen could knock however, Joshua had opened the door. The silver-haired boy asked Allen how he was and soon, their conversation drifted to that of the voices upstairs. Joshua told them that he does hear them but never checked because he said it's stupid (although seeing his legs shake a little, he probably was scared). They soon headed to the second floor.

They passed by Stella on the way. She was carrying books so she probably came from the library. Stella stared at Allen for a while, making him back away. Suddenly, she spoke "...Yes, you're very strange. Because... you can speak." She continued "Probably because you don't really feel like you're alive. It's the case with everyone here, but you most of all."

Those words left both boys confused. Neither he nor Allen said anything. She added "No... Actually, you're slightly different." She nods slightly and told them both that Teacher wasn't upstairs and that if they had any business, they'd have to finish quickly. Waiting until she was out of sight, Allen and Yuu tried to make their way to the storeroom through the rather dark hallway.

"Hey, isn't this door locked? We aren't supposed to be here…" Yuu mentioned as they stood in front of the door to the storeroom. Allen turned the knob and surprisingly, it opened.

Taking a few steps inside, Allen asked Yuu to keep silent as he tried to listen to any strange sounds. After a while with nothing, the two had given up and was ready to leave when all of a sudden, Allen froze in his tracks. "What's wrong, Allen?"

"Shh! I can hear something." Allen said as he tried listening to the voice calling out to him. Yuu tried to listen in as well but could hear nothing but the wind. The blonde walked further in the room to find the source of the sound and Yuu watched. When Allen finally stopped, Yuu ran up to him to see what the other boy was looking at.

"A butterfly?" Yuu curiously stared at what seemed to be a butterfly model. It was a bit high up but Allen tried to reach it by standing on his tiptoes. When he finally reached it, it slipped in his hands and a loud crash could be heard making the two children nervous. There were shards of broken glass at their feet and the butterfly model alongside the mess.

Moments later, they saw the door open and heard someone shout "Who's there?!". The lights turned on to reveal that it was their teacher. The boys went pale, in their minds they knew they were in trouble for what they did. The man approached them cautiously and asked what had happened.

Ashamed at what he had just done, Allen mumbled "The butterfly… said 'Help me'."

"...I see. Well, while that butterfly may be pretty enough to look alive, it's long since died. Something without a soul can't speak, can it?" Teacher said

"The model is all busted..." Allen said as he was on the verge of crying.

Yuu, who hadn't said a word in a while spoke up "We're sorry, Teacher. We didn't mean to make a mess."

Teacher took their hands and checked if they were alright. He then told them he'd clean up and they were told to go back to their rooms. Allen, still feeling a pang of guilt apologized once more. Teacher only said " No need to apologize, really. Just don't do it again. There there, there there, there, there... It's okay." as he held the boy's hand. He then ushered the two boys out of the room when he stopped. Allen asked if he was alright and the teacher answered with "I'm fine."

The first floor hallway was already dark as well when the two boys got back to their rooms. Yuu bid Allen goodnight before going back to his room and Allen did the same. When Allen was about to open the closet to get his pajamas, he heard a cat meow. He couldn't see it clearly and was unsure if it was a cat. It beckoned him to open the closet door. "Won't you open it, Alice?"

The cat had spoken and had called him 'Alice'. Allen was in disbelief and thought that he might have been in a dream. After much hesitation, he did as was told and opened the door.

"The front cover is open! Welcome, Alice. Time for a fun dream to begin!"


	2. Lonely Child

****Chapter 2- Lonely Child****

 _"_ _ _Good evening, Alice, and welcome. You've done well. I'm the White Rabbit, a guide of this World. It's a rather big place, so call me if you need anything."__

In the strange 'World' Allen had gotten into, he met it's residents- the strange and unnerving Cheshire Cat who wore a cape with a hood and had a tail and he resembled a human-like cat whose face cannot be seen but his creepy grin is always noticeable. He often asks questions and would disappear from time to time. The other one is the White Rabbit whose hair was parted with tree branches and had rabbit ears but one of them was torn like it had been bitten. He's a tad impatient, lazy and voices his complaints mostly to himself. They didn't seem to get along at all with each other. One of the only things they had in common, aside from being a guide was that they both call Allen and any other visitor 'Alice'.

As the Rabbit explained, the 'Worlds' are the embodiment of an Alice's heart. They are usually locked as it contains a private part of their memory. The White Rabbit is the one who manages the keys but it seems that this time, almost all of the keys were stolen by a certain __someone__ except for one. Not wanting to leave the area he's in, the Rabbit forces Allen on a quest to gather them back by going through each world they're scattered in.

One by one, Allen ventured into each of the Worlds belonging to one of the children from the facility. He's been to Letty and Rick's (or was it just Letty's?), Chelsy's, and Joshua's. There, he found out what their lives had been before Teacher took them in. They suffered, they despaired and after every key he's obtained through being in their worlds, Allen found himself crying although he himself didn't know why.

"Oh, Alice. I see you've gotten another key. Well then, shall we open the door to the next World?" the White Rabbit asked although he opens it anyways whether or not Allen would agree "You seem to be crying again. Is this really going to be a common occurrence? Oh well, off you go!"

Upon entering the fourth room, he was greeted with a familiar sight- a room slightly messy with a few articles of clothing scattered here and there, a few empty bags of snacks and a pile of manga. In the middle of the room stood the raven-haired child. "Hey Alice! Wanna play?"

Allen had heard those words before from the other Worlds as if it was a part of the routine. He gave a nod and the boy gestured towards the closet "Open it!" and so he did and upon opening his eyes, he found himself in another World.

He was confused. The room he was in was in shambles and he could smell burnt wood around him. Charred remains of what used to be furniture was scattered around. Had there been a fire in here? He was reminded of how things ended up in Letty's world. Something tugs at his heart that he couldn't quite place but it had bothered him.

Leaving the room he was in, Allen was greeted to a whole area destroyed by fire. The windows are broken and most of the things unrecognizable. As he walked around, avoiding the debris and the cracks on the floor, he stepped on something and as he removed his foot from the item, he discovered that it was a knife.

He carefully picked it up and examined it. There wasn't anything at all strange about it but something at the back of his mind tells him there must be something more.

 ** _ _ **There was once a boy who lived with his mother and father. When he was young, his parents cared for him deeply and his days were filled with happiness and peace. As he grew older, however, he noticed his parents' sudden strange behavior. He tried to ignore it but day by day, his parents were slowly changing.**__**

 ** _ _ **He couldn't understand it but one day, they started hurting him. He was scared and confused- had he done something wrong? He tried apologizing but it did not work. He tried pleading but his words fell on deaf ears. His parents called him a 'demon', a monster they must get rid of.**__**

Allen's head hurt once again as he heard that strange voice in his head. He walked up to the front door and opened it. He got outside and saw that he was at what was probably an apartment building. He walked around until he found an elevator which he used to go down to the ground floor. Finally getting himself out of the building to the streets, he looked around and found Yuu sitting on the sidewalk while staring at the sky.

When he got close to the boy, Yuu turned his head to meet Allen's gaze "Hey!"

"Yuu. What are you doing here?"

Yuu shrugged "Nothing I guess." He looked behind him and then back at Allen "We're you in there?"

The blonde nods "Yeah. One of the rooms was burned badly. What happened?" he asked, knowing that the answer is probably something he would not like to hear

Yuu stood up and looked up at the building "That was where I used to live. My parents hated me and tried to kill me. They even tried letting me burn in there. When that didn't work, my mom killed herself."

Allen stood wide-eyed. He didn't know which one bothered him the most- that Yuu's parents tried killing their own son or that Yuu told him in a matter-of-factly way as if it was common knowledge. Joshua's situation flashed back in his mind. "That's terrible. I'm sorry."

"For what?" Yuu asked "Anyways, Teacher was here earlier."

"Really?" Allen remembered that in each of the other worlds, Teacher were there, too. He even got to meet him in Joshua's world "What did he say?"

"He said not to leave this place and then he left." Yuu stretched his arms up in the air "But I've been sitting here for a while and I'm bored! Wanna go somewhere?"

Allen followed Yuu down the street and they passed by a bus stop. As soon as they stepped foot on the bus stop, a bus had arrived as if it was just waiting for them. Stepping in, Allen glanced at the driver. He was wearing a normal uniform but no matter what he does, Allen couldn't see the man's face clearly. The blonde followed Yuu to the back of the empty bus.

"Hey Allen." Yuu spoke, breaking the silence "Is this a dream?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"I live far away from the facility. There's just no way I'd suddenly be here without me knowing how."

"Yeah…" Allen paused for a bit "I guess you could call it a dream."

The bus stopped after a while. They stepped out and the door closes and the bus leaves. They found themselves in front of a rather colorful building. On the side of the gate, the sign reads 'Hyakuya Orphanage'. "An orphanage?"

"I used to live here, too." Yuu mentions which made Allen took at him "After the fire and stuff. I was taken here when I was 8."

 ** _ _ **After a fire that nearly consumed their home and the event of his mother taking her own life, the young boy was taken to an orphanage. He was bitter about the events of his life and was determined to isolate himself from everyone else but in the orphanage, he met a young boy who was adamant about becoming his friend and eventually, they became inseparable.**__**

 ** _ _ **He thought that those days would last forever until he found out that the person precious to him was going to be taken away.**__**

Allen heard the voice again after taking a step past the gate. Yuu was concerned and asked how he was. Ignoring the pain in his head, he told the other boy that he was alright and went straight through the door.

They stepped inside. It was clean and it kind of reminded Allen of the facility. They could hear the voices of children playing. As they walked around, they eventually passed by a few but the strange things is, they couldn't see their faces at all. It's like no matter how you try and make out a face, it comes up as a blur. Looking beside him, Yuu remained expressionless and wasn't bothered by it all.

They eventually found the stairs. On the steps sat a few children with one of them crying and the others trying to console her. "What's wrong?"

One of them looked up at Allen and answered "She lost her doll and wouldn't stop crying. Could you help us find it? If you help us, we'll let you pass."

Seeing as they wouldn't be able to advance and get up to the next floor with the children blocking the way, Allen agreed and went off to search for the doll. "What does it look like?"

The girl then described a small doll wearing an orange dress. It should have brown twin-tailed hair tied up by purple ribbons on each side.

They searched the rooms on the first floor and eventually, they found a child holding onto a doll that matched the description. When they asked for it however, the child wouldn't give it to them. "Alright, then…" Yuu sighed and asked "Would you like anything in return for it?"

"I'm hungry! Make me curry?" the child asked in a pleading voice.

"Huh? That's a bit too complicated. I don't know how we could even make one!" Yuu complained

Allen spoke up "Is there a recipe book here? Maybe we could use that and make some?"

They ventured towards the kitchen and searched for a book which they eventually found. Both being children inexperienced with cooking, it took them a while before they could start cooking and trying to cut the vegetables proved to be a hard task which left them with a few small cuts but eventually, they have finished and watched as the pot boiled.

"Everyone here likes curry." Yuu said "Try asking around and they'll tell you it's their favorite. I guess it's the same for me."

"It must have been fun here."

"Yeah, I guess. I usually hung out with Mika- my best friend." Yuu told Allen, his gaze not leaving the pot "Remember when I told you that you remind me of someone? I was talking about Mika. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, too but his hair was soft and wavy. He also enjoys books but his personality is kind of like Joshua's- smiles a lot and can be up to trouble, too."

After the curry was cooked, they both tasted it. It wasn't that bad but it was pretty bland and it wasn't really something anyone would enjoy. They placed some on a plate and along with a spoon, they took it to the young child with the doll. Allen looked at the child apologetically "It's not that good, sorry."

The child ate it and told him "It's okay. Thank you for the food!" and handed them the doll.

They went back to the other children and handed the doll back to the little girl who was happy to have it back. The other children thanked them and let them make their way upstairs. On the 2nd floor, the place was messier with toys and pieces of paper scattered about. When they got to the end of the hallway, they found themselves in front of a door which was banging as if someone was hitting it from the other side. Allen tried to turn the knob but it was locked.

Yuu's expression darkened- it showed frustration, anger and possibly guilt. He stepped back a little and handed Allen something and told the blonde "You should open it.". With a key in his hand, Allen placed it in the keyhole, turned it and after he heard a __click__ , he opened the door. Inside, Allen saw a huge rabbit stuffed toy whose hands were tied up. It doesn't move but he could hear the faint sound of crying.

"Hey Alice!" They both looked at one corner of the room and saw the Cheshire cat standing there, waving at them "… and Alice! Long time no see." He said, directing the words at Yuu "You probably don't remember me anymore, though."

"What… is this?" Allen asked

"This?" Cheshire looked towards the crying boy "Why don't'cha ask Alice over there? He did this after all!"

When Allen looked at Yuu again, the boy's face had changed just like how it was for the children in the other Worlds- blackened and almost unrecognizable. Yuu was looking at him with a sad look in his eyes "He told me we were friends… that we were family. I thought they'd last forever but he was going to leave me anyways. So I tied him up and locked him here until the people who were gonna take him away left."

Allen was speechless, he didn't know what to say and eventually just let the other boy continue speaking.

"It was his fault wasn't it? I told him over and over again that I didn't want a family! I told him I don't believe in anyone anymore but he didn't listen!" Yuu grabbed Allen's arm and shook it "I believed in him but he lied and he was going to leave me!" the shaking eventually stopped and tears fell from Yuu's eyes "… I didn't want him to leave."

"Tsk tsk tsk!" said Cheshire as he grinned and stared at Yuu "Alice, that's not how you keep friends! But you don't actually care anymore do you? You don't have any more friends after all!"

Before Allen could say anything, he felt pain in his head once again.

 ** _ _ **The young boy didn't want them to take his friend away so he locked him up and lied to everyone "He ran off because he didn't really want to leave!" and they left. The others found out the truth later on and chastised him for his actions. It eventually broke into an argument between him and his friend.**__**

 ** _ _ **When his friend had enough and told him "I hate you!" the boy gave up and it was the end of their friendship.**__**

 ** _…_** ** _ _ **The boy renounced having to make any connections with people.**__**

When Allen opened his eyes once more, the room was quiet and Yuu was nowhere to be found. Cheshire Cat was still there watching him "You know, he had so little XXXX!" he said putting up his thumb and pointer finger in the air to demonstrate how much 'little' he meant "But I took it from him regardless… but he gave it to me willingly so I didn't actually steal it, right, Alice?"

After the cat left, the room was empty and the rope that tied the crying boy's arms lay on the floor. In the middle of it is a key. Allen picked it up and was soon back to where the White Rabbit was.

Teacher went back to where he left Yuu behind in the latter's World but he wasn't there anymore. He could only think of another place the boy could be in and walked the street towards the orphanage where Yuu used to live but it was too late as the World he was in was slowly breaking.

He remembered how he had met the boy all those months ago. He left the facility in the care of his friend Cliff and went on a little journey as he's heard that there are children everywhere else who had been acting strange and not wanting to waste any chances, he set out to meet them. Eventually, he found himself in Hyakuya Orphanage.

Inside, the observed all of the children. They all seem lively save for a young boy with black hair sitting alone in one corner. The other children seem to dislike him. He then asked the kindly old woman who acts as the orphanage's director about the child. What he found was that the boy came from a small family. No one understood why but his parents suddenly became violent and abusive towards him which confused those who knew them as they weren't the type of people who would do such a thing to anyone, much less their own child. After a failed attempt at killing the boy and his mother taking her own life, he was soon left in the orphanage's care.

He was unfriendly at first but after a while, he made friends with the other kids especially one child who was the boy's age. They were always together until the other boy was chosen for adoption.

"Yuu locked him up and told us that Mika didn't want to be adopted anymore. After we didn't find him, the couple gave up and left. We soon found out that he'd been in the storage room in the 2nd floor the whole time. Since then the other children have been wary of Yuu." The woman explained

"I see. You think he was the type to do such a thing?"

"That's the thing. Yuu might be stubborn and impulsive but I didn't think he'd be the type to go that far. We didn't even know where he got the rope he used! Stranger than that are the other children's reactions."

"Why?" Teacher asked perplexedly "I thought it was normal for them to feel anger at what the boy had done."

"Yes but it had been like this for days. They haven't had a decent conversation with him and when they would talk, it becomes an argument. The children here are nice as they have always been. I thought they'd give him a chance after a while. Especially Mika- he had gotten in a fight with Yuu before but they make up sooner or later and even when Yuu was at fault, Mika was the one who does something to fix everything." The woman looked inside the room and watched the blonde haired boy called Mika play with the little kids "He's just been so cold to Yuu lately."

Teacher went to talk with Yuu in private. The boy had told him of what he already knew. "What were you thinking when you did that to your friend?"

Yuu had a troubled expression on his face "I don't know really. I was upset over finding out that Mika would be leaving then while I was sitting in the room; I heard a cat meow and followed it. I got to the storage room and found a rope there and… I just did what I did."

Those words were enough for Teacher to make the decision to take Yuu back to the facility. When they had left, the other children didn't react at all and Yuu's friend didn't even see him off.

"You're back, Alice! Another key… good work. Time to go to another World."

Allen made his way to Stella's world.

It took a long time but Allen managed to gather the last key and was now being told by the White Rabbit how he could leave this 'dream'. He was handed a key with a sharp point and large handle. It looked like a knife and according to the White Rabbit, they do serve the same purpose. To get back to his own world, he must stab someone from this World whom he thinks is most evil and they would turn into a door that would lead Allen back home but that would mean whomever he would choose would have their soul left behind in this World.

He had to choose between everyone: Letty, Chelsy, Joshua, Yuu, and Stella. In the end, he had made an agonizing decision.

Teacher called the orphanage for the first time since taking Yuu in with him to the facility. The director had told him something strange had happened after they had left before- the children who used to ignore Yuu and dislike him suddenly went back to normal and were all confused as to how they could just let their 'big brother' leave without saying goodbye. The one who was affected most of all was Mika who had been depressed since Yuu had gone away.

After Teacher had told her of Yuu's current condition, she was devastated. She debated on whether or not to tell the other children but thought that they should at least know.

My parents changed one day and started hurting me. Then, then they tried to kill me. They told me I was a demon or something. I hated them y'know. I mean I saw how other families were and knew that my parents weren't treating me right so when I got to the orphanage, I thought of being a loner. I was told that maybe someday I'd have new parents but I didn't want new ones- my real ones weren't nice anyways.

There was this annoying kid there though. He wouldn't stop bugging me and kept saying we're friends… family. Telling him over and over again that I did not want a family or a friend didn't work as he still kept hanging around me. In the end, I caved in and we became best friends. My parents stopped giving me XXXX a long time ago so I already forgot what it felt like to have it back then but my best friend gave me lots! I found out that he was just like me and that his parents never gave him any XXXX either so it amazed me how he still give so much XXXX to everyone.

I was happy when I was with him. He gave me XXXX and I try to give some back but I think I suck at it but he didn't mind. One day, a couple wanted to adopt him. I guess I got selfish and wanted all of his XXXX for myself. He told me that I'd get adopted someday and would be given XXXX by my new parents but I didn't want new parents. I wanted him. Just him. He was enough. I XXXX him so much so I wanted to keep him.

Teacher, I did something bad didn't I? Maybe I really wasn't capable of giving XXXX. My parents hated me and soon, my mom killed herself because of me. Now everyone hates me. Even my best friend- the person I cared about the most hates me, too. Sometimes I think, maybe my parents were right. Maybe I was bad. What do you think, Teacher?

Tears fell down onto the open pages of the emerald green notebook as the young boy with wavy blonde hair sat on a chair next to the hospital bed of a sleeping black-haired boy. He held the boy's hand and squeezed it tight.

Outside the door, Teacher and Mr. Cliff were talking to each other. "Poor Yuu. Nightmare Syndrome, huh?"

"Yes. My research hadn't gone far enough yet. No one had woken up from contracting this illness so he might stay like this forever."

"Don't say that!" Mr. Cliff said as he stared the door to Yuu's hospital room "Someone is still waiting for him. That poor kid's been there for a while now hasn't he. He's been staying with you isn't he?"

"That's right. I just had him stay in Yuu's room."

"Hey! How are ya?" Joshua asked the sleeping Yuu

"He'd wake up again, won't he?" Chelsy whispered to Stella

"I'm sure he will!" Letty exclaimed "Sleeping forever seems like no fun at all."

"That's right! When he wakes up, we're gonna go play together." Joshua shifted his gaze to the child who had just joined them two days ago "And now, Mikaela is here, too!"

"Yep! It's not too late for a snowball fight yet!" Letty excitedly announced "The more the merrier!"

"Well, were hungry. We're going out for a bit, want anything?"

The two blonde boys watching over the sleeping child shook their heads. The others had left them behind. "Are you alright, Mikaela?" Allen asked the boy in front of him. Mika had moved in with them almost two months after Yuu had gotten into a coma.

Mika's eyes are red from crying too much. He never cried in front of the others but when he thought no one was looking, he cried. The others sometimes catches him but said nothing. "I'm fine, Allen. Why don't you go with them?"

"Are you sure?"

Mika nods and gave him a faint smile "Yeah."

Before Allen could fully close the door behind him when he left the room, he heard Mika speaking, probably talking to Yuu. Allen leaned on the door for a moment.

"Yuu-chan, please wake up. We're all waiting for you! You made so many friends…" Mika paused for a moment before speaking again but his tone of voice changed as if he was on the verge of crying again "I knew you would though cause you're kind."

Allen decided to get up and follow the others when he heard Mika speak again.

"You know, you're wrong Yuu-chan. You aren't bad and I just wished I had told you before you left. I read what you wrote in your notebook. I'm staying in your room now and found it there. I finally understand why you did those things back then and I forgive you."

The next words he spoke made Allen freeze on the spot. The word he had asked Yuu before that neither of them recognized could be heard clearly, even for just that moment.

"And Yuu-chan… I love you, too."


End file.
